Hamas Anticipates Inheriting Fatah Arms in Judea and Samaria

As PM Olmert continues to pledge support for the newly formed PA shadow-government set up by Fatah, Hamas is looking forward to inheriting the aid.

By Ezra HaLevi

First Publish: 6/20/2007, 11:13 AM

As Prime Minister Ehud Olmert continues to pledge his support for the newly formed PA shadow-government set up by Fatah, Hamas is looking forward to inheriting the aid.

Fatah, which was trounced by Hamas in PA elections, has taken advantage of its being violently expelled from Gaza to claim that it has established a Hamas-free government in Judea and Samaria, which both the Israel government and the international community has quickly embraced and begun to fund.

A prominent Hamas man from the Gaza, however, was appointed Tuesday as Social Welfare and Agriculture Minister in Fatah’s unilaterally declared government Tuesday.

Sheikh Mahmoud Habbash said he agreed to be a part of Fatah’s new PA government because it is his "national duty at this very sensitive and difficult stage."

“[The Western nations] are refusing to accept the results of a free and democratic election that brought Hamas to power," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Tuesday. "Instead, they are now supporting the illegitimate government of [Fatah’s Salem] Fayed.”

Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud a-Zahar claimed Wednesday that Gaza now is enjoying a period of calm and stability not experienced since the establishment of Yassir Arafat’s regime in 1994.

Hamas Hopes Fatah Gets More ArmsA senior Hamas terrorist told WorldNetDaily that Hamas is encouraged by the funding and arming of Fatah in Judea and Samaria – as the Islamist group is certain it will inherit those weapons and funds just as it did when it took over Gaza. "Like the American weapons in Gaza we told you would come to Hamas, also the weapons and aid the Americans are giving to Abu Mazen (Abbas) as part of their conspiracy against us in the West Bank will find its way to the Palestinian resistance and Hamas," Hamas’s Abu Abdullah said. He would not say whether Hamas was planning to take over Judea and Samaria from Fatah in the near future, but said he “hopes” that the US continues to provide large quantities of weaponry to Fatah so Hamas can inherit them. Hamas is currently “swimming” in American weapons seized last week from Fatah facilities, according to Abdullah.

As Fatah continues to arrest Hamas members in Judea and Samaria, Hamas has threatened to begin attacking Fatah in the region if the persecution of its terrorists continues.

A Hamas spokesman told the Associated Press that the Islamist group would use its terrorist tactics of suicide bombers and car-bombs against Fatah in an upcoming battle. The group continues to execute Fatah men in Gaza, where checkpoints have been set up, with laptop databases upon which it is marked whether the person should be executed, crippled or arrested.

Dahlan Demands More Weapons, Barghouti Wants Him ReplacedFatah terror chief Mohammed Dahlan, who fled Gaza for Egypt two months ago, fearing for his life, and now is living in Ramallah, warned that there is a grave danger of Hamas beating Fatah in Judea and Samaria as well.

Dahlan told Reuters that the US and Israel were not funding and arming Fatah enough, calling Hamas’s takeover of Gaza “an occupation.” He also claimed to have been in Germany for knee surgery, and not to flee the fighting.

Jailed Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti released a statement from his cell at Israel’s Hadarim Prison calling for Dahlan and other Fatah leaders to be replaced.

Environment Minister Gideon Ezra (Kadima) called upon the government to release Barghouti in order to strengthen Fatah. Ezra has made similar suggestions several times in the past.

Carter Backs HamasFormer US President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that the United States, Israel and the European Union must stop favoring the Fatah terrorist group over the Islamist Hamas.

Carter called the Bush administration's refusal to accept the 2006 election victory of Hamas "criminal” and said Hamas had proven itself to have “superior skills and discipline" in its slaughter of Fatah in the recent Gaza clashes. "This effort to divide Palestinians into two peoples now is a step in the wrong direction,” he said.

Carter said that Hamas was elected in an "orderly and fair" election because the organization was "shrewd in selecting candidates." Carter made the comments at Ireland's eighth annual Forum on Human Rights.

Arab Party’s Welcome Fatah Embrace Arab MKs have taken advantage of the Israeli government’s support for Fatah to go further in their open support for the terror group than ever before.

The Hadash and Ra’am Ta’al parties have each posted pictures of PLO terror-chief and Fatah leader Yasser Arafat on their websites.